SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " elle " 2,512 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Goodman Posted Excellent Numbers for Rockies in 2026
When looking at Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman's output at the plate this season, his numbers really show how important that he was to the team's lineup.
Bellevue business loses dozens of beehives to flooding
Beekeeper loses dozens of hives and bees to flooding
Boston Mayor Wu endorses Gov. Maura Healey after past snub
BOSTON — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu endorsed Gov. Maura Healey after hedging just a few months ago on whether she would back the Democratic governor’s bid for a second term.
Centre County Teen Expanding Food Truck Business to Brick-and-Mortar Cafe
At just 16-years-old, Alexa Cowher has owned and operated Joelle's Sips and Bites, an Aaronsburg-based food trailer, since June. Cowher serves everything
Latino Expo Resource Fair returns this weekend, in a new location
The Latino Expo cancelled its resource fair last year because of the political climate.
‘Verity’ review: This Anne Hathaway movie’s inert from the get-go
Anne Hathaway does her best to liven up this inert movie based on a Colleen Hoover bestseller.
Science of Perception Box Podcast Named Finalist in Four 2026 Signal Awards Categories
Science of Perception Box™, the award-winning podcast produced by Unlikely Collaborators in partnership with Pod People, has been named a finalist in four categories at the 2026 Signal Awards, which recognize excellence and innovation in podcasting.
City of Alamo Announces Appointment of New City Manager
The City of Alamo proudly announces the appointment of Michael Leo as the City’s new City Manager, bringing nearly two decades of local government leadership and a proven track record of financial transformation, operational excellence, and community-focused growth.
Using comic books to get serious about science
Nuclear engineer-turned-librarian Jim Ottaviani found his niche as a writer of nonfiction comic books about scientific superheroes. Move over, Marvel. Step aside, DC Comics: Einstein, Pasteur, and more, have muscled their way into the best-seller stratosphere.
Video Essayist And YouTuber Jacob Geller Removed From MinnMax Following Sexual Assault Allegations
Jacob Geller has not commented on the allegations or his removal from the games podcasts.
UCF DB Antione Jackson Graded Among Nation's Best
Shutdown coverage and a clutch interception against TCU propelled the Lauderhill native into the national spotlight as Alex Grinch’s defense prepares for a gauntlet of ranked opponents.
Jevon Holland named NFC Defensive Player Of the Month
Jevon Holland is named the Defensive Player Of The Month after an excellent September.
Menopause and heart health: What every woman over 40 needs to know
'Go Red for Women' Medical Co-Chair Dr. Michelle Dew joins Shane and Kerrigan to share how women going through menopause can protect their heart health for years to come.
Menopause and heart health: What every woman over 40 needs to know
'Go Red for Women' Medical Co-Chair Dr. Michelle Dew joins Shane and Kerrigan to share how women going through menopause can protect their heart health for years to come.
How Colin Kaepernick’s Anthem Kneeling Propelled Michele Tafoya Into Politics
In an exclusive OutKick interview with Bobby Burack, former NBC Sunday Night Football reporter and Minnesota Senate candidate Michele Tafoya opens up about her transition from sports broadcasting into politics.
KU faculty member receives inaugural endowed professorship in applied behavioral science
Isaac Melanson, an assistant professor of applied behavioral science whose research specializes in helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has been chosen as the inaugural recipient of the Donald M. Baer and Elsie M. Pinkston Endowed Professorship. The three-year term took effect July 1.
September Monthly Review: Health MCP Guy?
For all the time I spend talking about APIs and data exchange, this newsletter has had embarrassingly little interoperability of its own. It’s old-school SaaS, baby - UI or bust. Not all of that is my fault! Substack, for all its popularity, is (as mentioned before) really frustrating as my system of record. The primary user it optimizes towards is the reader, whose attention feeds the app, the Notes feed, and the recommendation network that Substack is actually selling. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe They’re falling into the same trap that Medium once sprinted into, albeit at a much more glacial speed. Younger generations may not remember (or never knew) it, but Medium once lured publications like The Ringer and Signal v. Noise onto its platform, only to lose them as it rebuilt itself around a paywall and an algorithmic feed. Substack’s original pitch circa 2020 was the antidote (you own your list), but every new feed feature chips away at it. I get it: writers are generic supply in the eyes of the Substack product team. Generic supply follows demand, so the consistent pressure on the PMs is to generate demand, which leads to every product cycle going toward discovery (Notes, recommendations, the app, live video). The end result lackluster author tools (laggy and broken analytics are truly crippling) all despite the premium price point. The archive is where it crosses from authorial gripes to actual reader impact, though. Across Substack and LinkedIn, I’ve published 1,218 posts and nearly 900,000 words since 2018. Substack’s native search can see only the 464 posts that live on Substack, and even there it’s woefully inadequate at surfacing relevant content (even for the guy who wrote it)! Readers have the same problem, writ large. Ask the Archive Fixing search (for both my readers and my own use) turned out to be extremely non-trivial, unfortunately: There’s no public API for readers to access content RSS exists for new content notification, but it only carries the 20 most recent posts and cuts paid ones off at the preview The only Substack MCP is an admin tool for analytics The export exists for authors, but it’s painfully awkward and slow. So I built something to work around that: the Health API Guy MCP. It’s a private MCP server holding the full text of everything I’ve written across Substack and LinkedIn. Add it to Claude or ChatGPT as a connector and you can ask things like: It pairs keyword search (for acronyms and case names, of which we have many) with semantic search. Every post is also labeled by topic, form, and court case, so you can pull a lawsuit’s (or multiple cases’) entire docket across Substack and LinkedIn in one query: Hail, Healthapiguyhydra This is also a bit of me eating my own cooking. I’ve spent the year arguing that headless healthcare is arriving and that developers want primitives over abstractions. Last week in Hail, Benihydra, I watched Salesforce plug its platform into Claude and bet that the records underneath outlive whatever interface sits on top: Salesforce must believe that the Hydra’s immortal head is the records, permissions, and business logic (in that they will survive whatever happens to the interface). It felt a bit hypocritical to keep my own archive behind a Substack search bar. The archive is the body. Substack is one head, and now whatever tool you might use is another. Will the EHRs follow my lead? Probably not imminently, but one can hope! Why Founding Members Only The MCP is available to Founding Member subscribers. A few reasons: It costs money and time to run. Hosting, the database, Clerk usage and AI compute for search and labeling are significant operational costs (that increase with usage). Substack gives me no way to automate access. There’s no API to check whether someone is a paid subscriber, so every user is manual operations for now. It’s a beta. We’ll need to improve things and parts will break. I’d rather they break for a small group of dedicated readers who will tell me about it. The Founding tier deserved a real benefit. Until now it was mostly a generous tip. Now it comes with something. If you’re already a Founding Member, reply to this email with the address you’d like provisioned. If you’re not and want in, upgrade here. Larger teams (such as companies) can get access too: group subscriptions at the Founding tier come with the group discount. The admin for the subscription can reply with the list of addresses to provision. Get 20% off a group subscription Pricing Founding membership is now a flat $200 a year, replacing the old suggested $150 that readers could adjust. Existing Founding Members will have access grandfathered in at their previous rate. Month in Review Articles Published Make Networks Dumb Again (Sep 11): AI is making old analog networks cheaper to use and flooding them with machine traffic in the process. A plea for agent-native rails with the intelligence at the endpoints, and for Washington to drag them to ubiquity. Interoperability, Unbuttoned (Sep 29): Interoperability is a series of workflows in a trenchcoat, and this post finally takes the trenchcoat off. A color-coded map shows which provider workflows went digital, which are fragmented, and which still run on fax. Video Content Antitrust’s System of Record Problem (Sep 3): The FTC’s investigation into Epic prompted a ninety-minute webinar, now posted with chapters and a smoothed transcript. We get into why market definition, missing B2B share data, and the SSNIP test leave antitrust poorly suited to systems of record, plus why information blocking may be doing more than any pending lawsuit. The Information Exchange: Cerner Milking Edition (Sep 18): This was so fucking fun. Ryan Tucker, Ryan Brickner, Brad Thorson, and I try an Around the Horn format, complete with points, penalties, and a mute button. We debate whether Oracle Health is dead, who would actually buy Cerner (IBM enters the chat), p(Doom), and why the front desk still hands you a clipboard. Regulatory Ask Not What Your Network Can Do (Sep 23): CDC’s RFI on public health data intermediaries lists use cases already served, unevenly, by eCR, lab reporting, IZ Gateway, and syndromic surveillance. The real opportunity sits in one question about AI: a network that can handle the next emergency without another interface project. Court cases Particle v. Epic: The Naughty Schoolteacher (Sep 4): After a summer-long vigil, the answer on Epic’s early summary judgment bid is two paragraphs and a remedial assignment. Particle advances to the next grade, and market definition gets another year of discovery. The Epic Discovery Files (Sep 8): Texas’s motions to compel arrive with a 251-page appendix of requests, objections, and meet-and-confer letters with Cravath. Inside: Epic using generative AI for document review, denied interoperability requests in scope, and Noerr-Pennington raised against lobbying discovery. Epic v. Health Gorilla: “Working as Designed” (Sep 9): Epic wants nothing to do with the data breach MDL, and explaining why puts fresh discovery on the public docket. The spiciest allegation: Health Gorilla told GuardDog to scrub its law firm business from its website instead of cutting off access. Veeva v. Epic: Legal Bypass Surgery (Sep 15): Veeva asks the Wisconsin Supreme Court to skip the Court of Appeals, while law professors and three policy groups line up as amici. Meanwhile, Epic’s lawyers apologize for another round of citation errors, including a quote that never existed. Texas v. Epic: Behind the Black Bars (Sep 17): The court portal served up Epic’s unredacted filings, revealing a $5 million document review budget and the AI workflow behind it. Also inside: the 200-plus company names Texas wants searched, and one very expensive Zoom invitation. OpenEvidence v. Doximity: Consequences Will Follow (Sep 25): OpenEvidence tells the court it will not comply with a discovery order, and its own lawyers at Quinn Emanuel say they won’t defend the choice. Add years of Slack reported unrecoverable, and Rule 37 sanctions come into view. Health Tech Keeps Choosing Violence (Sep 28): Doximity moves to end OpenEvidence’s case, Epic asks Texas to show its work, and a sleepy Audacious Inquiry patent fight sprouts antitrust and information blocking counterclaims. The main event is a long-sealed Cognizant v. Infosys ruling that hints where system of record antitrust claims can survive. EHRs One Verb for Oracle Health (Sep 14): Oracle’s earnings call quantifies every data center to the decimal point, while Oracle Health gets a single verb: “accelerate.” Panning the few healthcare mentions turns up an agentic care management system, a research-to-care ledger play, and the question of whether healthcare gets Larry’s patience. Epic’s Forretress Under Siege (Sep 30): Judy Faulkner tells a panel Epic paused hundreds of projects to harden its software and calls it a “shame,” while a spokesperson insists the roadmap hasn’t changed. Project Glasswing, a Pokémon-branded QAN sprint, and a trove of Jodel grievances reconcile the two Epics and preview the Jevons paradox coming for all software. Industry Analysis Scanning for a Network (Sep 1): Scan.com raises $220M to build the imaging network labs never got, speedrunning Zocdoc’s consumer-to-B2B pivot. Its wedge to network density may be the most American one available: personal injury litigation. The Front Desk Wants the Damn Whole Building (Sep 16): Hello Patient buys Converse Health, pushing its AI front desk into referrals, chart work, and prior auth. The copilot categories keep blurring, and your distribution partner is still your final boss. Cross-industry Comparisons A Different Patchwork Quilt (Sep 10): Healthcare loves to envy open banking, but the US version has no mandate, a toll booth at Chase, and data quality problems of its own. The grass isn’t greener; it’s another American patchwork quilt, and perhaps a worse one. Hail, Benihydra (Sep 21): Salesforce brings its platform into Claude, Slack, and its own agent, inviting the interfaces that might replace it. Cut off one head and more grow back, so long as the records underneath stay put. Living on A Trade Secret Prayer (Sep 22): Six credit unions are suing Fiserv, the Epic of core banking, by claiming their own member records as trade secrets. Banking has no Cures Act, so its lawyers reach for legal alchemy that healthcare has already tried. Other News None this month External Media Nabla Accelerate NYC: I kicked off fall conference season at Nabla’s Accelerate event in New York, where Delphine Groll opened by asking the room to picture the company it wants to become and the one it doesn’t. I liked her framework of bureaucracy, fear, and ego as the blockers. I also love vendor conferences/events in general - different vibe than industry biggies. Healthcare 101 with Nikhil Krishnan: I briefly guest lectured Out-Of-Pocket’s Healthcare 101 class. Appreciated Nikhil’s takeaways cover whether AI doctors can query HIEs, why healthcare’s data-liberation rules beat most industries’, and the hi-res graphic is in the comments. HCN: Epic Probed by the FTC: I joined the HCN guys to talk through the FTC’s investigation into Epic. Cedric’s new hairdo was an unexpected plot twist. The episode also covers MFN drug pricing, healthcare M&A and Eli Lilly’s acquisition streak. Fall Conferences: At eHealth Exchange’s Annual Meeting in Austin on Oct 27, I’ll moderate a panel on the tensions between AI, HIEs, and timely patient access with Jean Ross (Primary Record), Therasa Bell (Kno2), Byron Crowe (Doctronic), and Michael Marchant (Freenome). Here’s the rest of my schedule if you want to meet up: CommonWell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Will be participating in a fun Jeopardy event Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 20-23 Will be enjoying Verona, Willy Street, and other local adventures eHealth Exchange and Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 27-29 Yeehaw HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 Groundhog Day, Venetian Edition RSNA (Chicago): Nov 30-Dec 2 See me at “Governing AI in Breast Imaging: What Health Systems Are Actually Doing” Digital Health Counsel 2026 AI Summit (Seattle): December 2-3 Will likely be speaking to a bunch of lawyers about information blocking Posts I Liked ChatGPT’s Epic integration: game changer or nothing burger?: Joshua Liu, MD offers five thoughts on OpenAI’s Epic launch, starting from the point that it rides the same open APIs available to anyone. He argues read-only access leaves ordering to Art and the ambient startups, and asks why HCA is piloting it alongside Commure. He’s sorta a must-follow at this point - consistently excellent, thought-provoking takes. Epic, Lilly, and the Discovery pass: Seth Chaney reads Epic’s first major Discovery deal (with Eli Lilly), as well as its revised developer terms on commercial displays, as the pipe finally opening between EHRs and pharma. Life sciences and health continue to collide. Scott Rossignol on EHR payer platforms and ePA fees: Scott argues the top ambulatory EHR vendors are turning the prior auth mandate into a per-member-per-year toll on payers, for an API whose operating cost has nothing to do with covered lives. His fix is two lines of regulatory text: put the CRD/DTR/PAS certification criteria in the Base EHR definition, and bring payer-facing ePA connectivity under § 170.404’s cost-based fee rules. It’s a good solution. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Barcelona fear international break could derail Hansi Flick’s flying start
Barcelona entered the international break in excellent form, but the pause has brought a familiar concern for Hansi Flick.According to SPORT, there was already a feeling inside the club that the huge ...
Another DWI crash hits Maumelle business days after deadly Waffle House crash
KARK is your source for local weather, news and sports.
Amazon Accelerate 2026: New Tools Give Small Sellers More Capacity, Simplicity, and Global Reach - Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
By Karen Kerrigan – Each year, the Amazon Accelerate event provides a window into where e-commerce is headed and announcements are made about new tools and capabilities that are being developed for small sellers. This year’s event was held in Seattle from September 22-24, and several significant innovations were announced about AI agents, multichannel-commerce […]
Sec. 338(h)(10) elections in business acquisitions
A Sec. 338(h)(10) election can allow parties to a business acquisition to treat a statutory stock purchase as a deemed asset sale for income tax purposes, potentially benefiting both the buyer and the seller. This article discusses the election’s mechanics, eligibility rules, and tax consequences, as well as practical deal considerations.
Looking at the Ugly Side of the Paramount-Skydance Merger...And How I’d Fix It
A Message from Our Sponsor Certified Fresh with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, FX’s Adults is an ensemble comedy series about a group of twenty-somethings in New York leaning on each other to navigate love, work, friendship and family. Don’t sleep on “The Sitcom of the Moment” - Awards Buzz All Episodes now streaming on Hulu on Disney+. Watch The Teaser Trailer... (Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industr(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Before we dive in, I wanted to congratulate Broadcast Now for being the first to report that Netflix’s How to Get to Heaven from Belfast has been cancelled. (I saw this in a write-up by Kasey Moore of Whats-On-Netflix.) More importantly, I wanted to note that, as of yesterday, none of the other trades had reported the news yet. I have half a guess that eventually one of them will report this. Anyways, it’s time to take a break from my deluge of streaming ratings reports to continue my analysis of the Paramount Skydance Warner Bros. Discovery (PSWbD) saga. As I noted last week, a lot of times when folks use the (sometimes cliched) “the good, the bad and the ugly” framing for an article, “the ugly” section is just more bad. Or very, very bad. In this case, yeah, I do think it’s ugly. In more than one way. Unfortunately, we’re only going to have time to tackle one of those ways today: the ugly pile of debt to finance this deal. (In a future article, I may cover the entire process for how it went down, which was very, very ugly.) Last issue, I explained why I liked this deal in a vacuum. Unfortunately, “vacuums” don’t exist outside of space. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - The Ugliness of the Paramount/Warner Bros. Merger More than one person sent me a note speculating that the big problem with Paramount Skydance buying Warner Bros. Discovery is the “Warner Bros.” portion of the deal. In fact, that’s a take I read a lot about Warner Bros., ever since they caught Netflix’s, and then Paramount-Skydance’s, eye. In short, multiple companies (Time, AOL, AT&T, Discovery) have bought and then regretted buying Warner Bros. Since it’s nearing Halloween, you could almost say it’s like the folks think WB is cursed! It’s a haunted studio—like the town of Derry in movie studio form—and whoever takes possession of it will fall into misery! Yet...I just don’t like that story, because it doesn’t explain the “why” behind why those deals fell through. Especially when Warner Bros. has continued to succeed as a TV and film studio in the intervening two decades. Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter? Game of Thrones? Everything HBO? Considering it never fully owned a broadcast TV channel, this media company has done pretty well. So what went wrong? Well, in recent years, companies bought Warner Bros. instead of the other, smarter option. Explaining POCD (And Applying It to Mergers & Acquisitions) As I explained last issue, one of my favorite frameworks is the POCD tool for evaluating venture capital investments: People Opportunity Context Deal The bar to invest as a VC is high. (Or I might say “was” since cheap interest rates made life easier last decade.) You review a thousand prospectuses, get pitched by a hundred, and invest in the ten best, with the hopes that one of those ten would pay for the rest. That means every element of a deal needed to pay off: you needed the right people running the companies, who could capitalize on the right opportunity, in the context of an industry that was ripe for disruption. If you could then not overpay, you could make some money in a smart deal. The analogy isn’t perfect here, but close enough. For a merger or acquisition to work, you need the combined company (which is the opportunity) to make more than the price you need to pay (which is the deal). Note: the people and context still matter, but with M&A, it’s a little more straightforward: does the opportunity exceed the cost? And usually with Warner Bros., it hasn’t. If you want to find out the single biggest mistake made by the Warner Bros. suitors over the last few years (and my simple fix) become a paid subscriber. I’ll also touch on who I think Paramount-Skydance could (shockingly) consider buying next, TBD, and more. Sign up here.
Lady A's Charles Kelley reveals rare blood cancer diagnosis
LOS ANGELES — Lady A singer Charles Kelley has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare type of blood cancer. The country star shared his diagnosis in a video posted
Trump administration misspells United States twice while promoting AI
The Trump administration misspelled the United States twice in images of the White House artificial intelligence memo it published following President Donald Trump‘s accord on Tuesday with the country’s biggest names in AI. On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, both Trump and the White House posted the “Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities,” which came from […]
Trump administration misspells United States twice while promoting AI
The Trump administration misspelled the United States twice in images of the White House artificial intelligence memo it published following President Donald Trump‘s accord on Tuesday with the country’s biggest names in AI. On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, both Trump and the White House posted the “Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities,” which came from […]
Analyst Argues Gears of War: E-Day Shouldn't Have Been Cancelled on PS5 After 'Soft' Steam Pre-Orders
"Gears isn't necessarily a console-seller anymore"
Des Moines welding teacher wins $75,000 prize
Chad Donahue, a welding teacher at Des Moines schools’ Central Campus, has been named a winner of the 2026 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, earning $75,000 for the school’s welding program. Donahue is one of 25 public high school skilled trades teachers nationwide selected for the honor and one of two…
Top Ranking for Bellevue University's Counseling Master's
CounselingPsychology.org ranked Bellevue University's Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program No. 2 among counseling master's programs in Nebraska for 2027. The ranking recognizes Bellevue University's CACREP-accredited program and its online format designed to support students preparing for counseling careers and licensur...
Broward Health Medical Center Dedicates Boyce Haller Family Cardiac Catheterization and Electrophysiology Suite, Made Possible by $5.2 Million Family Gift
(L-R): Michelle Thoman, chief operating officer, Broward Health Medical Center, Eileen LaMarca, consultant for the Broward Health Foundation, philanthropist Linda Haller, Shane Strum, president and CEO of Broward Health, Stacy Angier, commissioner on the North Broward Hospital District Board of Commissioners, and Lauri Littleton, associate chief nursing officer, Broward Health Medical Center, cut the ribbon […]
Tampa General Hospital’s Melissa Golombek Honored With 2026 Apogee Award by Tampa Bay Business & Wealth
Executive vice president and president of Tampa General Hospital recognized for driving organizational excellence, innovation and community impact. Sept. 29, 2026 – Tampa General Hospital (TGH) announced today that Melissa Golombek, executive vice president and president, Tampa General Hospital, has been honored with the 2026 Apogee Award in the President category for large organizations by […]
Amazon still Bellevue’s top employer, but here's the catch
Amazon's growth in Bellevue last year was slower than anticipated, but the company said it's still committed to an eventual 25,000 employees in the city.
Debt service and the Pentagon. Private equity and the politics of the US housing market. The return of black lung disease & the Franco-Prussian War in color.
Thank you for opening your Chartbook email. RALPH BALSON. 1890—1964. Oil and enamel, signed. Source: Gavekal This going to hurt - the two 7s in the US: diesel and mortgage rates Source: Gavekal In the US housing market, costs are soaring and the role of corporate, private equity-backed buyers is high on the mid-term election agenda. HEY READERS, THANK YOU for opening the Chartbook email. I hope it brightens your day. I enjoy putting out the newsletter, but tbh, what keeps this flow going is the generosity of those readers who clicked the subscription button. If you are persuaded to click, please consider the annual subscription of $60. It is both better value for you and a much better deal for me, as it involves only one credit card charge. Why feed the payments companies if we don’t have to. Subscribe It is striking how, since 2020, big banks have dropped out of the political spotlight in the US. For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Rates of the lung disease pneumoconiosis among working US coal miners have risen to levels not seen in nearly 40 years Source: Bloomberg Chinese Clean Technology Exports For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Ralph Balson (1939) Portrait of Grace Crowley Cole, G. O. & Haseman, S. M., (2023) “‘The Substance of Paint’: Class and Materiality in the Work of Ralph Balson”, Open Library of Humanities 9(2). Ralph Balson (1890–1964) was an English plumber and house painter who emigrated to Australia in 1913 and subsequently became a key member of Sydney’s artistic avant-garde. He is credited with having the first solo exhibition of purely abstract painting in Australia in 1941. Despite his role in developing Australian non-objective painting, Balson remained principally a house painter, working on his art practice at weekends. In 1955 he retired on a state pension and became a full-time artist. Balson’s artistic education and methods were critically shaped by his working-class background. He did not travel abroad until 1960 and was an avid auto-didact. His materials, palette, techniques and compositional strategies were likewise informed by his trade. Balson’s profession as a painter-decorator made him conspicuous within the predominantly middle-class Sydney art scene, though his painting partner Grace Crowley considered it an advantage in their pursuit of constructive painting. This paper explores the impact of Balson’s trade on his trajectory towards pure abstraction. While his art was at odds with the predominantly figurative mode of class-conscious art in Australian Modernism, we argue that it is embedded in the experience of class through its creative adaptation of labour into aesthetics. Source: OLH Svetlana Alexievich, The Art of Oral History No. 1 Paris Review Issue 257, Fall 2026 Interviewed by Elena Kostyuchenko INTERVIEWER How were you able to go to Chernobyl? Did you need special papers? ALEXIEVICH It was a time of chaos. They let me right into the zone. … More than anything, there was confusion. Adamovich [Ales Adamovich, the Soviet Belarusian writer], I remember, persuaded Gorbachev to send in the scientists, who showed up without even bringing their shaving kits. They were told that there had been an explosion at a nuclear power plant, but for some reason they thought that they’d be there for only a day or two. The first time I went was several months later, and people kept telling me about things they didn’t understand—how the fishermen couldn’t find worms, because they’d burrowed deep into the earth, how the milk wouldn’t curdle at the cheese factories. The honeybees wouldn’t come out of their hives. The evacuations started, I think, in the first month. The old women hid, they wouldn’t leave. I mentioned radiation to one of them and she said, “I’ve seen that radiation, all right! It’s yellow with green in it. I saw puddles of it in my garden, and I told the other women, and we ran and looked, and she had it in her garden, and the other one, too!” God, it was wild, the way the mind made sense of it. There was a story going around about Gorbachev telling the scientists to show him the radiation. “We can’t, it’s invisible.” “But I want to see it!” I also ran into the soldiers who’d been flown in on helicopters from Afghanistan. I asked them, “What are you doing here with your machine guns?” They said, “We’re collecting the radiation, that’s what.” So you had some of them running around with their guns, others out in the village washing off firewood or burying soil in the soil. These were the kinds of things that exploded our worldview. They made you realize that culture was just a chest filled with old manuscripts. There were no books in there that could help me. Our philosophers turned out to be useless when faced with the unprecedented. Derrida, Baudrillard—philosophy fell silent. What was happening? How would we live with it? That’s when I decided it simply needed to be witnessed. Which is what I did. INTERVIEWER I wanted to ask about how you talk to people. … ALEXIEVICH Yes, we sit and we talk—about what interests me and about life in general. About love, about everything in the world. That way, what comes out is three-dimensional. If you cut straight to the part you need, which is what journalists do, it won’t be interesting, and it won’t be the truth, either. Not the whole truth. INTERVIEWER Do people always open up when you ask questions, or can questions get in the way? ALEXIEVICH You have to ask questions, of course. Your job is to scour away the banality and return people to their true selves, to make them face what they rarely tap into. With every new person, you have to find a new way to do it. When you ask an interesting question or you share what happened to you, you help people really think about what they’re saying and not just repeat whatever they’ve picked up from the newspaper. But not everybody is capable of it, not everyone wants to put themselves through that. Either the chemistry starts to kick in or it doesn’t. A person might be wonderful, but you can tell that the conversation just isn’t going to happen. You can try to push it, but it will be a product of your own intellect, rather than of that mysterious connection. Life doesn’t come from the mind. Some people I can call two years after our last conversation, and they’ll say, “Oh, Svetochka! I think of you all the time,” and we’ll start talking again. With others, that won’t happen. That doesn’t mean they’re not extraordinary people, just that you can’t connect with them. They might have some insight, but you don’t have the right antenna to pick up their signal. Source: The Paris Review Colorized Franco-Prussian war … the ruins of Strasbourg with a French photographer and his mobile dark room. Ralph Balson (1961) Matter Painting If you’ve scrolled this far, you know you want to click: Subscribe
‘Wonka the Golden Ticket’ winner talks ‘nerve-wracking’ finale and big plans for winnings
‘Wonka’s the Golden Ticket’ season 1 stars Garrison Wilson, Gabrielle Wright, and Taylor Schilling were the final three contestants competing for a lifetime supply of money.
New Clarkson major connects brain science with health, technology
POTSDAM — Building on decades of excellence in psychology, behavioral science, and the teaching of neuroscience, Clarkson University is launching a new Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience to prepare students
Changes coming to Medicaid: what you need to know | Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services
Official website of the City of Philadelphia, includes information on municipal services, permits, licenses, and records for citizens and businesses.
Lady A’s Charles Kelley Reveals Rare Blood Cancer Diagnosis After ‘Random’ Health Concern Sparked Testing
The singer shared the “hard news” with his wife, Cassie Kelley, by his side.
Lady A's Charles Kelley diagnosed with rare blood cancer after painful health scare
Lady A's Charles Kelley shared a video revealing that unexplained rib fractures led doctors to discover multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer.
WBLF Video: 12th Annual Women Business Leaders Kickoff
In this video, NJBIA President & CEO Michele Siekerka and Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce President Danielle Norcross welcome hundreds of
Trishaween: celebrated or cancelled?
Western Michigan University’s Campus Activities Board (CAB) announced Trishaween with Trisha Paytas on Sept. 1 at Bronco Bash and on Instagram, and the response was immediate.
V10 Entertainment Gears Up For MIPCOM By Tieing With Former Paramount, Amazon MGM Studios & Vision Plus Execs
EXCLUSIVES: Distributors are really getting into the pre-MIPCOM swing. L.A.’s V10 Entertainment is gearing up for the TV content confab by adding a trio of veteran sellers to its ranks. Michelle Payne...
V10 Entertainment Adds Ex-Paramount & Amazon MGM Studios Execs To Team
V10 Entertainment has added a trio of veteran sellers with histories at the likes of Paramount and Amazon MGM Studios to its ranks.
STC Awarded Highest Distinction for Veteran Education
South Texas College has been awarded a “Gold” Veteran Education Excellence Recognition Award (VEERA) from the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC), the highest distinction available by the statewide program, for its commitment to veterans and their families.
Sony to skip CES 2027 for first time since expo's inaugural event in 1967
Decision made as Sony shifts focus to "entertainment, intellectual property, and technology geared to support creators"
Primetime Review: That’s Entertainment?
If you decide to see Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime, it’s important to remember the title as you watch. Yes, this is a biopic of sorts about Chris Hansen and his work on To Catch a Predator, but it is more accurately about the quest for fame and using people’s trauma to attract ratings. True crime entertainment continues to have a prominent place in many people’s television habits, and this film asks us to examine what that means both for those whose stories have become our viewing pleasure and those of us watching. Primetime starts as Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) is told that his show, To Catch a Predator, is moving to a 9 PM spot opposite LOST. Chris and his producer, Andie (Merritt Wever), see this as an opportunity to make the program even more sensational, looking for bigger, more horrific predators. As part of their plan, they hire a young actor, Dan Plum (Skyler Gisondo), to play “Decoy Dan,” the person who greets the would-be predators who were catfished by Xavier Von Erck (Matthew Maher). Oppenheim, along with writers Ajon Singh and Luke Dittrich, is less concerned with an accurate retelling of the show as much as they are interested in interrogating the why of it all. That decision sometimes leaves Primetime feeling less like a biopic and more like a satirical look at the nature of programming like this. Visually, the movie is impressive. Oppenheim uses light and color effectively to cast Hansen as both villain and savior. Pattinson plays Hansen in an almost comical manner, as we see him wake his two young sons to watch a clip of the show, just to brag that he was moving into a prime spot on television. Even Andie struggles to accept a “nice” job when there is so much more fame to be found producing salacious true-crime content. Wever does an excellent job showing how the hunger for fame is not just in front of the camera, but in every aspect of the production. The heart of the movie, and the standout performance, belongs to Gisondo as Dan Plum. He is someone who just wants to get enough hours to be admitted into the Screen Actors Guild, and stumbles into this job without really knowing what it is. Throughout the film, we watch him suffer one trauma after another, ending with him witnessing the suicide of a District Attorney who is about to become the next unwitting star of Hansen’s show. If there is a sympathetic character in Primetime, it is Decoy Dan, and Gisondo plays him brilliantly. If you’re a fan of programming like To Catch a Predator, then Primetime will probably make you feel uncomfortable, and I think it’s worth sitting with that feeling and examining why we turn on shows that display the worst of humanity while we judge from our couches. Yes, it is correct to want to see people who would hurt children brought to justice, but perhaps it shouldn’t be something that we watch as entertainment. Rating: 3.5/5 This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on September 25, 2026. MacGuffin or Meaning: Film & TV Reviews and Reflections is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Pa. Health Department reverses course on new disease-tracking guidance, for now
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health has rescinded a 502-page proposal that could’ve given the agency more control over how it tracks and investigates the spread of diseases — and that spelled out the measures officials can take in response.
Pirates Are Looking Brilliant After Major Trade
Pittsburgh has often been sellers at the trade deadline due to a lack of relevance once July arrives. In these kinds of situations, the goal is always to dump off talent that may not be part of the future. In return, teams prefer to acquire young talent with loads of potential. Cherington did something in 2025 that is already looking like a home run. The post Pirates Are Looking Brilliant After Major Trade appeared first on HEAVY.
Kamin Science Center kicks off 35th Anniversary with an addition
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh’s most visited museum — the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Science Center — is marking its 35th anniversary with an addition to one of its most beloved experiences. The Miniature Railroad and Village has reopened with an exact replica of the Andrew Bayne Memorial Library in Bellevue, Pa., continuing a tradition […]
Kamin Science Center kicks off 35th Anniversary with an addition
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh’s most visited museum — the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Science Center — is marking its 35th anniversary with an addition to one of its most beloved experiences. The Miniature Railroad and Village has reopened with an exact replica of the Andrew Bayne Memorial Library in Bellevue, Pa., continuing a tradition […]
Grand County Rural Health Network honors 2026 health service award recipients
Grand County Rural Health Network has named Mara Pacyga, Dr. Eliza Buyers and Hannah Wynd recipients of its 2026 Award for Excellence in Health Service, recognizing their leadership and contributions to health care access and...
It's About Damn Time Trucks Started Offering Old-School Two-Tone Colors Again
You can get a crew cab 2027 Ford F-150 with old-school two-tone paint and it looks as excellent as you'd expect.
Jordan Mueller
Jordan Mueller has joined Kreshmore Group as Managing Director, Turnaround & Restructuring Advisory.
Mike Evans is considered ‘day-to-day’ with rib injury
It’s excellent news for the 49er offense ahead of two daunting matchups.
SportsNet Pittsburgh Wins 3 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards
The Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards recognize excellence in television and media across the region, celebrating outstanding achievements in sports, news, and entertainment.
Stony Brook Brings AI Expertise to Long Island Small Businesses
The inaugural class of the LIA-AI Growth Academy celebrate its graduation at Stony Brook’s Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology.
Jenelle Riley on Leaving Traditional Entertainment Journalism for Podcasting, And Why Others Are Following Suit
How two major journalists taking to the mic could very well be an eye into the future
From New Orleans to the "King of Swing": Scout Hall Undergro...
Gabrielle Baffoni traces the clarinet’s jazz history, from New Orleans to Benny Goodman and Brazilian choro, in an Oct. 2 Scout Hall concert.
PAC-12 Players of the Week: Week 4
The final week of non-conference play did not lack excitement and excellent performances
Official: Man Utd sign ‘excellent’ Liverpool winger
Manchester United have announced the capture of Isaac Konde, a promising teenager who developed at Liverpool’s academy.The 16-year-old is a winger blessed with ‘blistering’ pace and ‘excellent...
Corn Nation Overreaction: Huskers Dominate Spartans, Remain Undefeated
Nebraska moved to 4-0 with a convincing 31-13 road victory over Michigan State, and Greg and Jake broke down an “ugly win” that still showed how far the Huskers have come. Nebraska didn’t play its best football, particularly in the running game, but the defense dominated with six sacks, multiple takeaways, excellent tackling, and impressive […]
This Midwest author’s book journey started with MS diagnosis
Ahead of an event at the Hiawatha Public Library, author Meg Anderson discusses her debut novel, “The Memory of Borrowed Books,” and how an MS diagnosis compelled her to start writing.
Peter Krause and Rachel Keller ignore trends, embrace network TV
MINNESOTA — Network TV may eventually go the way of the telegram and rotary phone. But don’t expect its extinction anytime soon. Yes, streaming services and cable TV usually offer
John D. Rockefeller Is a Cautionary Tale for Today’s Business Titans
The oil tycoon was celebrated as a pioneer before the public turned on him.
Flavio Bolsonaro: political heir in his father's shadow
Flavio Bolsonaro inherited his father's surname and powerful political base.Michelle Bolsonaro accepted a public apology from Flavio Bolsonaro, but did not appear at any of his rallies.
Teyana Taylor’s Transparent 2026 VMAs Look Featured a Plunging Neckline and Dramatic Details
Teyana Taylor turned heads on the 2026 MTV VMAs red carpet in a transparent black look with a plunging neckline. See photos here.
Report: Conference executives crafting ‘Plan B’ ahead of Protect College Sports Act vote
Monday evening, the U.S. Senate is expected to hold a full vote on the Protect College Sports Act. In the meantime, executives at the conference level are crafting “Plan B,” Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported. The plan would include parts of the bipartisan Senate bill, including a $48.8 million revenue-share cap, which would be a […]
See Every Celebrity Red Carpet Look at the 2026 MTV VMAs
See what the stars wore to celebrate the 2026 MTV VMAs at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Yankees’ regular season finale against Orioles cancelled due to rain
We’ll finish the regular season with just 161 games played.
8,000-Mile 2001 Porsche 911 GT2 Clubsport For Sale And You're Too Chicken To Actually Drive It
With low miles on the clock and in excellent condition, this rare Porsche 911 GT2 Clubsport is going to be an expensive buy for the final bidder.
Glen Powell, Michelle Randolph enjoy Texas-Tennessee matchup
Glen Powell and Michelle Randolph are bringing their love to the football field. Powell and Randolph were beaming at one another while they were in attendance at the University of Texas and University...
Scientists say Italy's crust is 'unzipping,' driving Apennine seismic activity
Similar processes may be occurring near the Hellenic trench south of Greece.
📚 The Inoculation Project 9/27/2026: Reading and Science
This week, we’re again helping a Connecticut elementary school teacher get some books and STEM materials, and a North Carolina high school teacher get materials for a most excellent lab.
How much should you actually tip on a 'free' walking tour?
They're advertised as free – but guides often pay a fee for every guest. Here's what travellers should know before joining one.
Pellegrini completes recovery, could start vs Como
Lorenzo Pellegrini is ready to return to the forefront of Roma. The number 7 hasn’t played since April 10th, the day of the Giallorossi’s home game against Pisa. Then, a tear in the rectus femoris...
Golden Knights entering 10th season having made massive impact on city, NHL
Paved way for pro sports on The Strip while sustaining excellence
Revisiting Dontrelle Willis’ Career With Miami Marlins
From Rookie of the Year honors to a World Series ring, witness the electric rise of the "D-Train" and his lasting legacy as a Marlins Hall-of-Famer.
San Antonio's Michelle Beadle joins Matthew Berry for new Roku sports show
The two-hour talk series will stream live and free on the Roku Sports Channel Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CST.
Claims China’s BeiDou satellite was refuelled in orbit could change space race
Research papers suggest the historic operation occurred in February last year, a manoeuvre that could have military implications.
Robert Stone: Patients Should Never Have to Choose Between the Best Science and the Most Human Care
Robert Stone: Patients Should Never Have to Choose Between the Best Science and the Most Human Care / cancer, City of Hope, Dan Peres, Mary Ellen Podmolik,
Liverpool looking to recreate excellent Jeremy Jacquet deal
The last two years have seen a distinct change in Liverpool’s transfer policy. During the time of Jurgen Klopp, the Reds became known as a side that would sign players with upside and turn them into...
Bumper crowd see Penybont victory & Flint finally win
Cymru Premier 26 Sep: Penybont and TNS remain unbeaten as Flint Town pick up first win of the season and Caernarfon Town hit late leveller.
Putellas scores first WSL goal in London City win
Alexia Putellas scores her first goal in English football as London City Lionesses continue their excellent start to the season with victory against Brighton to move second in the WSL.
Control Resonant becomes Remedy's top Steam launch, and even pirates are telling people to buy it
The game hit first place on the Steam bestseller chart with an 88 percent positive review score right out of the gate at its launch.
Intel Panther Lake Teardown, 18A, BSPD, GAAFET, SemiAnalysis STEEL
Panther Lake debuts the first commercial implementation of backside power delivery (BSPDN), introduces Intel’s first iteration of gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, and showcases their advanced packaging capabilities with its Foveros-S assembly. With Panther Lake, Intel’s manufacturing arc has shifted from nebulous roadmaps to shipped silicon, a significant milestone on their long road back to competitive semiconductor manufacturing. To evaluate the extent of Intel’s comeback, we tore down Panther Lake. The SemiAnalysis STEEL teardown lab breaks down advanced datacenter and AI hardware. To learn more about our pipeline or to commission a teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. WE’RE HIRING: Architecture, floorplan, packaging, manufacturing, and labs experts. Opportunities from system to transistor and everywhere in between. Check out our Careers page. Our teardown traces 18A from its four-sheet RibbonFETs (Intel’s marketing name for GAAFETs) and gate stacks through contacts, frontside and backside wiring, and the bonded carrier. We explain how these material and integration choices improve gate control and reduce resistance, while adding capacitance, thermal resistance, and process complexity. Our measurements put Panther Lake’s 18A compute logic and TSMC N3E GPU logic at similar logic density. However, 18A does not lead TSMC N3P, N2 or Samsung SF2 in peak density. Panther Lake’s CPU cores are incremental updates, and the high-end GPU still uses TSMC N3E. Panther Lake assembles one compute tile, one GPU tile, and one I/O tile atop a passive base tile using Intel’s Foveros-S advanced packaging. Both compute tile variants use Intel 18A. The Xe3 GPU options are a 4-core GT1 tile on Intel 3 and a larger 12-core GT2 tile on TSMC N3E. Both I/O tile variants use TSMC N6. [1], [2] Our analysis centers on the PTL-U compute tile, both the 4-core and 12-core GPU tiles, as well as the 12-lane I/O tile. In conventional chips, power and signal are routed through the same frontside metal stack towards the device frontend. Power rails consume scarce routing resources near the transistors, while tall via stacks carry VDD and VSS from the coarse upper wires to local rails. Backside power delivery (BSPD) moves the main power network behind the transistor layer, to the backside, separating it from frontside signal routing. We covered BSPD and its impacts in 2024. [3], [4], [5] Intel’s BSPD implementation, branded as “PowerVia”, routes power through dedicated backside metals to nano-TSVs, which connect those rails to local source/drain (S/D) contacts. Implementing that separation requires Intel to build the interconnect stacks from both sides of the wafer. The frontside comprises the M0-M14 signal stack, while the backside comprises the BM0-BM5 power stack. M0 and BM0 are closest to the transistors. The nano-TSVs connect the two sides, but Intel patterns and etches each via from the front after forming the contacts. A narrow via runs from the side of the contact deep into the silicon substrate. Intel then completes the frontside signal metal stack, bonds the wafer to a carrier, flips it and removes the original substrate until the buried via tips are exposed. The backside metal stack is then deposited directly on the revealed vias. The nano-TSV and backside-via profiles taper in opposite directions because Intel forms them from opposite sides of the wafer. The transistor structures form the FEOL. Local contacts and nano-TSVs connect them to the wiring. M0 begins the frontside interconnect stack. The silicon carrier remains attached above the frontside interconnects. It supports the device wafer during substrate removal and backside processing and remains part of the finished chip’s thermal path. PowerVia removes the main power distribution from the congested frontside metals, routing supply through shorter and wider backside wires. Its lateral landing still occupies area in the standard cell, so it recovers less cell area than a direct backside contact. [3] Nano-TSVs beside the logic devices carry VDD or VSS from the backside power network, while signal connections continue upward through the frontside metals. Backside Interconnects Samsung SF2 data is included for comparison to Panther Lake’s within this article. SF2 is the incumbent GAA foundry node but lacks BSPD, serving as a useful reference to evaluate 18A. A full teardown of Samsung’s S26 products, processed on SF2, will be shared soon.Nanosheet-cut EDS comparison. The PowerVia supply path runs from the backside Cu rails through Mo-lined W nano-TSVs to the local transistor contacts. In this cross section, the tapered connection spans roughly 150 nm from the contact level to BM0. The Ta liner confines Cu and promotes adhesion to the surrounding stack; the AlOₓ etch stop controls the next dielectric etch above the rail. Dielectric beneath the ribbons electrically separates the devices from the backside wiring and removes the conducting silicon body below the channel. [6] AlOₓ serves as an etchstop (ES), enabling endpointing and protecting the underlying layers. Low-volatility aluminum fluoride reaction products resist the fluorinated plasma, allowing a thin AlOₓ film to protect the metal while the surrounding low-k dielectric is removed. [6], [7]. While the BM0 and layers above the M1 lines show double AlOx layers, Our SMIC N+3 teardown showed single AlOₓ layers. SMIC uses a simpler local AlOₓ substack, while the remaining cap and etch sequence provide the required landing protection. So why double layers? The closely spaced AlOₓ doublets provide two protected endpoints in the etch sequence. Intel documents an AlOₓ/SiN/AlOₓ stack that explains the benefit. The main dielectric plasma etch stops on the first AlOₓ film; a selective wet clear opens that film; a second plasma etch removes the intermediate SiN and stops on the second AlOₓ film. The final wet clear exposes the metal landing surface. SiN is the intermediate dielectric in Intel’s published example. [8] The second stop protects the metal through a cap breakthrough. Wide openings can etch faster than narrow ones, and etch depth varies across the wafer. Metal under an early-clearing opening would otherwise be exposed while other openings still need more etching. Staged protection widens the process window and reduces metal erosion, corrosion and void formation. [8] TSMC documents AlN/AlOₓ/SiOC/AlOₓ above Cu, with AlN blocking Cu diffusion, and a simpler AlN/SiOC/AlOₓ variant that omits one AlOx film. [9] Levels with different opening sizes, aspect ratios, pattern densities and cap materials need different etch margins. A double AlOx stop is useful where another protected endpoint justifies the added processing. The extra film adds formation, selective opening and cleaning steps, plus another set of interfaces to control adhesion, moisture, and stress. These blanket films are opened through the existing via pattern, so each film does not require another lithography mask. AlOₓ adds parasitic capacitance when it replaces lower-k dielectric; two thin AlOₓ films can nevertheless contain less AlOₓ than one thick film. Total thickness, placement, and theintermediate dielectric determine the electrical cost. Deposition chemistry also changes AlOx permittivity and residual hydroxyl content, which can oxidize the underlying metal. [7], [8], [10], [11] The backside stack separates into relatively fine BM0-BM2 wiring near the devices and coarser BM3-BM5 power distribution. The largest pitch increase occurs between BM2 and BM3. BM0’s pitch closely matches the logic-row height, fitting local power delivery to the cell rows. Higher levels aggregate current through larger conductors: routing density becomes less important than low resistance and current capacity as the network approaches the package. This hierarchy provides wide power wiring for the power delivery network without consuming scarce frontside signal-routing resources. [3] The SemiAnalysis STEEL teardown lab breaks down advanced datacenter and AI hardware. To learn more about our pipeline or to commission a teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. WE’RE HIRING: Architecture, floorplan, packaging, manufacturing, and labs experts. Opportunities from system to transistor and everywhere in between. Check out our Careers page. Frontside Interconnects Intel 18A combines Mo-lined W contacts and nano-TSVs with a separate backside Cu power network. Samsung SF2 keeps power on the frontside, using Ti-based contact interfaces and Ta-based barriers and Co liners around Cu wiring. In 18A standard-cell rows, backside power rails supply the devices through nano-TSVs within the cells, freeing frontside routing resources. Samsung’s M0 accommodates both power and signal connections. From the device toward M0, the connection runs through a Ti-based S/D interface, W contact fill, a Mo-lined W via, and the Cu M0 wire. Mo supplies a conductive nucleation and adhesion layer for W, replacing the resistive TiN liner used in conventional W integration. This increases the effective conduction volume within the feature while retaining W fill and its established polishing, cleaning and etching processes. Intel’s Mo/W patent describes this integration tradeoff. The nano-TSV uses the same Mo-lined W construction in the backside supply path. [12] The move from TiN to Mo is an incremental change. While a full Co or Mo fill can also reduce the volume lost to liners in very small features, it requires new integration schemes that increase complexity and risk. Cu remains attractive for wider wires due to its low resistance. As wires and vias shrink, the diffusion barrier consumes an increasing fraction of their cross-section. [12], [12], [14] Intel uses Co/Ru liners at M0-M1, Co at M2-M4, and Nb at M5-M9. The lower-level liners help Cu adhere and reduce void formation during trench fills. Applied Materials’ Endura has new thermal control that facilitate wetting process, so the thin film continuity is good enough that good capillary pressure will drive Cu atoms to the via bottom without voiding. Intel’s choice to use Nb is particularly interesting. Intel’s Nb patent describes a conductive diffusion barrier intended to reduce the barrier’s contribution to resistance relative to conventional Ta-based barriers, particularly at via bottoms where all current crosses the barrier. The patent pairs Nb in coarser levels with the option of lower-cost PVD processing. [15], [16] The upper metal layers support thicker barriers formed through physical vapor deposition (PVD) despite its worse coverage and uniformity. Meanwhile, the lower metal layers require thinner barriers deposited through conformal atomic layer deposition (ALD). Co/Ru adds another material interface and requires controlled deposition and Cu fill. Changing liners and barriers by metal layer allows Intel to optimize interconnect resistance, process complexity, and reliability. [15, 16] RibbonFET, Intel’s name for its gate-all-around FETs (GAAFETs), replaces the FinFET’s vertical fins with four stacked horizontal silicon nanosheets, allowing the gate to surround the channel on every side. The path to GAAFET begins with the planar transistor. A planar MOSFET places the gate above the channel between its source and drain. Pairing an NMOS with a PMOS transistor creates a CMOS inverter, in which the NMOS pulls the output low for a high input, and the PMOS pulls it high for a low input. The gate must retain electrostatic control of the channel to ensure clean switching. As gate lengths shrank, the drain began to compete with the gate for that control, increasing off-state leakage. Electrostatic control was restored through an architectural evolution that raised the channel into a vertical fin and wrapping the gate around three sides. Called “FinFET”, this new architecture packed more effective channel width into a smaller footprint. Further scaling made it harder to maintain both drive current and leakage within smaller cells, and reintroduced the same problems planar MOSFETs faced. Nanosheet GAAFETs close the fourth side by replacing the vertical fin with a stack of horizontal nanosheets, each surrounded by the gate. The tighter electrostatic control suppresses leakage at shorter gate lengths while stacking adds effective channel width within the cell footprint. In a FinFET process, channel width changes in discrete steps as designers must add or remove whole fins. Nanosheet width can instead be adjusted continuously within the process’s design rules. Wider sheets increase drive current, while narrower sheets reduce capacitance at the cost of drive current. Intel 18A uses stacks of four nanosheets each and varies their widths across logic and SRAM. At the process level, adding more sheets to each stack increases effective channel width and drive current, but complicates fabrication. RibbonFET vs MBCFET Samsung began GAAFET production in 2022 with SF3E, following with SF3 and now SF2. Its ‘MBCFET’ provides a useful structural comparison with Intel’s first RibbonFET implementation. [17] STEEL is digging deeper into SF2, used in the Exynos 2600, and TSMC’s GAAFET N2, used in Apple’s A20 Pro, in upcoming newsletter articles. We’re throwing some teasers on X. Let’s compare Samsung SF2’s MBCFET with Intel 18A’s RibbonFET. Subscribe Even to the untrained eye, Intel’s extra nanosheet is obvious. Intel stacks four ribbons to Samsung’s three. Samsung’s sheets are much wider in these fields, so both sheet count and width matter to the available channel perimeter. Sheet width also changes which silicon surfaces carry current. On conventional (001) silicon, wide nanosheets emphasize the broad top and bottom surfaces, favoring electron transport; the larger sidewall contribution in a narrow sheet favors hole transport. Thinner sheets improve gate control but increase confinement and scattering. This makes width and thickness part of the NMOS/PMOS balance, alongside strain and threshold voltage. [18], [19] GAAFET designs like 18A use different work-function-metal (WFM) stacks for NMOS and PMOS. Around each ribbon, a thin SiOx interfacial layer separates the silicon channel from the HfOx high-k dielectric, with La providing dipole tuning and the WFM wrapping the dielectric. NMOS uses a TiAl-based stack, while PMOS uses TiN WFM. W fills the remaining gate trench, providing a lower-resistivity path where the work-function layers are no longer needed. In this field, the PMOS stacks leave room for W between ribbons, while the NMOS stacks occupy more of those gaps. A silicon-based dielectric marks the P/N boundary, allowing the PMOS and NMOS gates, sharing the same gate trench, to be processed sequentially. Fast logic paths, retention circuits, and SRAM need a family of threshold options. Changing threshold without substantially changing device dimensions, capacitance or fabrication complexity is valuable. FinFET processes typically use different work-function-metal stacks. In a four-ribbon GAA stack, the narrow sheet-to-sheet gap limits how much WFM can fit around each channel. La in the gate dielectric creates interfacial dipoles at the SiOx/HfOx boundary, shifting effective work function and tuning threshold voltage. This gives Intel another control alongside its NMOS and PMOS WFM stacks. Low-threshold devices improve critical-path drive; higher thresholds reduce leakage elsewhere. Dipole tuning is especially useful in GAA because it changes threshold without consuming the narrow intersheet gap with thicker WFM. Precise control of La incorporation, diffusion and interface quality has long been a challenge, limiting viability in high volume production but is now seen from every leading-edge foundry. Intel’s patent describes depositing a dipole-forming oxide above HfOx and annealing it toward the interfacial oxide before completing the work-function and fill metals. This separates threshold tuning from the space available for metal. Newer research addresses the thermal cost: imec’s 2026 dipole-middle research inserts the shifter between two HfOx depositions, shortening the diffusion path while protecting SiOx during patterning. [20], [21]Matched-cut EDS, Intel 18A (left) vs. Samsung SF2 (right). Intel retains raised source/drain epi beneath its contacts, while Samsung recesses W deep into the epi to form a V-shaped Ti-lined interface. The deeper contact increases metal-to-semiconductor area and shortens the current path from the lower sheets, reducing contact and spreading resistance. It also removes epi volume and brings the contact etch closer to the channel ends. Retaining more epi preserves the material available for strain transfer, especially from SiGe into PMOS. These geometries balance contact access against stress engineering and etch margin. [22], [23] Samsung stacks three sheets to Intel’s four ribbons, and both processes use sheet width to tune drive strength. In our Samsung cross-sections, widths range roughly from 19 to 30 nm in the NPU rows and 37 to 50 nm in the CU cell. The Samsung nanosheets taper, with the widest sheet at the bottom and the narrowest at the top. Both processes use HfOx gate dielectric and Ti-based work-function stacks, with Al in the NMOS stack. In the Samsung devices shown here, the dielectric and WFM occupy the intersheet gaps, leaving W above the top sheet. Intel’s PMOS stack leaves more room between ribbons, and W fills those gaps while the thicker NMOS stack leaves W mainly in the upper trench. Gate-stack EDS maps. The W between Intel’s PMOS ribbons provides a conductive path close to the lower gates. Where WFM fills the entire gap, the gate still surrounds the channel, but voltage reaches it through the more resistive work-function films. Thinner WFM and dipole tuning preserve room for low-resistivity fill; Mo and Ru are alternative fill metals being developed for further scaling. [24] A masked, sequential WFM flow explains the different gate heights and inter-nanosheet fill. The proposed sequence below shows how separate NMOS and PMOS work-function steps produce that geometry. Enabled by the BSPDN process, Intel replaces the dense-logic silicon subfin with dielectric, removing the parasitic conduction path below the ribbons and reducing substrate-related capacitance. A retained silicon body as in classical, non-SOI, planar and FinFET designs needs junction and punchthrough-stop engineering to suppress leakage. Dielectric isolation makes that leakage less sensitive to the subfin doping profile but adds removal and fill steps. It also weakens the direct thermal path through silicon, making the contacts, metal stacks and package more important for heat extraction. [24], [26] Fluorine is concentrated around selected Intel device structures in the maps. WF6 is a standard precursor for W nucleation and fill, while barrier films protect adjacent dielectrics from fluorine attack. Low-fluorine W processes reduce the residual-F burden. Chloride-based precursors avoid introducing F during W deposition, but require control of chlorine attack, nucleation and fill quality. The integration target is a continuous, low-resistance W path with a thin protective liner and minimal chemical damage to the surrounding stack. [20], [27], [28] The SemiAnalysis STEEL teardown lab breaks down advanced datacenter and AI hardware. To learn more about our pipeline or to commission a teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. WE’RE HIRING: Architecture, floorplan, packaging, manufacturing, and labs experts. Opportunities from system to transistor and everywhere in between. Check out our Careers page. We measured cell height, gate pitch, metal geometry, and ribbon dimensions at the XTEM sites shown below. The tables group these dimensions by site and device polarity. Our “sheet cuts” cross the silicon channel and show the ribbons end-on. “gate cuts” run along the channel through successive gates. The 18A logic cell dimensions point to a five-track logic library while the N3E and Intel 3 cell dimensions evidence a seven-track logic library. The DDR-PHY uses wider M0 wires and much larger spacing than core logic. That trades routing density for lower wire resistance and weaker coupling between neighboring nets. The geometry suits the current delivery and coupling requirements of analog, clock, and I/O circuitry. PowerVia lets 18A combine a compact cell height with wider M0 geometry by moving the main power rails off the signal-routing tracks. That relaxes local wire scaling while preserving a small cell footprint. Cell height and gate pitch set the geometric density; pin access and routability determine how much of it a real block can use. [29] The biggest takeaway from our gate-pitch measurements is that Intel 18A compute logic and TSMC N3E GPU logic have similar density in the Bohr representative-cell model. The 18A example is 18.6% denser than the Intel 3 GPU example. Gate pitches are nearly identical across the three sites, so cell height drives most of the difference. The Bohr model combines a four-transistor NAND2 spanning three gate pitches and a 32-transistor scan flip-flop (SFF) spanning nineteen pitches, weighting their densities 60:40. The sensitivity column shows how independently changing cell height and gate pitch by ±1 nm changes the result. This compares representative cell geometries; whole-die density also depends on cell mix and placement. The 18A P-core gives M0 substantially more metal cross section than the N3E vector engine. Treating each profile as a trapezoid gives 2.63 times the area per line and 1.84 times the area after normalization by routing pitch. The larger section reduces the geometric contribution to line resistance and lowers current density for a given current. Taller and wider wires also add capacitance, so circuit delay depends on the balance of resistance and capacitance. The DDR-PHY has less metal area per routing width than the 18A core fields, while remaining above N3E. [30] Area = height × (top CD + bottom CD) / 2, including liners. Area/pitch normalizes by routing width. Taper is the symmetric sidewall angle from vertical, with the largest angle belonging to the DDR-PHY. Compute tile The measurements show how ribbon dimensions and gate-stack geometry vary across the compute tile and between NMOS and PMOS to balance channel drive, gate load and the space needed for the dielectric/WFM stack across logic, SRAM and the DDR-PHY. Width mainly changes available channel perimeter; thickness also changes electrostatic control and carrier confinement. Gate-stack thickness then determines the space left for low-resistivity fill P-core and LP E-core logic Both the P-core and LP E-core use multiple nanosheet widths. Widths are measured on high-magnification XTEMs while wider-field images demonstrate additional width choices within the LP E-core. Multiple widths are expected even within an LP E-core. Timing-critical paths, buffers and cells with different fanout need different drive strengths. The lower-magnification fields show this width diversity beyond the sites quantified in the table. L2 and L3 SRAM GAA gives SRAM designers another way to balance the pull-up (PU), pass-gate (PG), and pull-down (PD) transistors. FinFET bitcells set device strength through fin count while GAA adds nanosheet width as a sizing knob. In a 6T SRAM cell, a strong pull-down relative to the pass-gate limits read disturbance, while a strong pass-gate relative to the pull-up improves writability. During a write, the pass-gate and write driver pull the node storing “1” below the inverter trip point. During a read, the pull-down holds the node storing “0” low. Bias, threshold voltage, mismatch and assist circuitry set the remaining margin. FinFET high-current cells commonly use a PU:PG:PD fin-count pattern of 1:2:2, a device-sizing ratio rather than a current ratio. Ribbon width lets Intel balance SRAM strengths without adding whole fins. The L2 cell uses its narrowest ribbons for PU and widest for PD, improving writability and read stability respectively. Intel’s disclosed HCC operates without assist; its denser HDC uses negative-bitline write assist. Pulling the selected bitline briefly below ground increases pass-gate overdrive so it can overpower the pull-up at lower supply voltage. That buys density and low voltage writability at the cost of boosting circuitry, switching energy, and additional voltage stress that must be controlled. [31], [32] Four rectangular ribbons give the perimeter = 8 × (width + thickness), before corner rounding. PG/PU is 1.49 and PD/PG is 1.16. The L3 structures closely resemble L2 in layout and cell height. Fewer L3 nanosheet widths are tabulated because fewer high-magnification images were available. DDR PHY The DDR-PHY trades density for controlled analog behavior and reliable off-chip signaling. It contains drivers, receivers, delay circuits, and calibration logic that set drive strength, sampling time, and voltage margin. Repeated four-sheet devices with similar widths fit the use of regular transistor units for matching and programmable drive. Its wider local wiring provides room for current delivery and separation of sensitive signals, while consuming more area than a dense core-logic grid. The layout serves the memory channel’s electrical requirements as well as digital logic density. [33] The SemiAnalysis STEEL teardown lab breaks down advanced datacenter and AI hardware. To learn more about our pipeline or to commission a teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. WE’RE HIRING: Architecture, floorplan, packaging, manufacturing, and labs experts. Opportunities from system to transistor and everywhere in between. Check out our Careers page. Intel 3 GPU devices Vector engine logic Intel 3’s XVE logic uses two-fin PMOS and NMOS devices with power rails in M0. Its cell height and M0 pitch give a seven-track geometry, two tracks more than the 18A logic. One-fin groups also appear among the two-fin devices. Intel 3 L2 SRAM The Intel 3 L2 SRAM uses the familiar HCC sizing pattern: one PU fin, two PG fins, and two PD fins. N3E GPU devices Vector engine logic The N3E XVE field contains repeated two-fin devices with seven-track cell geometry. N3E remains a FinFET process, giving Panther Lake a direct FinFET-to-RibbonFET comparison. N3E L2 SRAM The N3E L2 SRAM uses the same PU:PG:PD fin-count pattern of 1:2:2. Panther Lake-U follows Lunar Lake’s floorplan quite closely. Both pair 4 P-cores with 4 LP E-cores and NPU, media and display engines in similar locations. Lunar Lake also uses Xe2, the direct predecessor to Panther Lake’s Xe3 GPU. This makes Lunar Lake the most direct basis for our comparisons. Arrow Lake differs in core count and uses the older Xe-LPG GPU architecture, so we only use it where it offers a more direct component-level comparison. Compute tile Panther Lake compute-tile floorplans remain sparse even months after launch. Intel 18A’s backside metal and dielectric stack must be removed without damaging the underlying structures before a clean transistor-level floorplan can be imaged. Most published die shots hide or heavily process the background, but we are quite proud of the die shot we achieved and are excited to show the work we have done. We measured the areas of the key components on the compute tile and compared them with their Lunar Lake predecessors on TSMC N3B. These help us to capture changes in block area and compare the two chips across process nodes and designs. Our total tile areas exclude the scribe-line area. The compute-plus-GPU subtotal below uses the PTL-U compute tile and GT1 GPU; it excludes the I/O tile and passive base. Individual block areas use the boundaries marked on the floorplans The compute-plus-GPU row is recomputed from the displayed PTL-U and GT1 areas. Component rows use their stated per-region counts and are not an additive partition of the whole tile. The P-core area remains almost unchanged between Lunar Lake and Panther Lake, despite L2 capacity increasing from 2.5 MiB to 3 MiB. Arrow Lake uses the same Lion Cove core as Lunar Lake but also has a 3 MiB L2. Cougar Cove fits 20% more L2 into the same P-core area. The larger private cache keeps more of each core’s working set close to its execution units, reducing access to shared L3 and DRAM. Extra capacity adds storage leakage and lookup energy, so designers balance it against avoided lower-level accesses. The shared P-core L3 cache also shrank by 14.8%. [2] Cougar Cove combines a similar footprint with Intel’s reported power-efficiency improvements. RibbonFET’s tighter channel control reduces leakage, while PowerVia reduces supply droop and allows tighter voltage guardbands. [1] Darkmont’s four-core LP E-core cluster is 5.0% smaller than Skymont’s on Lunar Lake, with most of the reduction in its L2 regions. The 1 MiB region shrank by 8.4% and the 1.5 MiB region by 14.9%. The tag arrays also use one fewer visible row. Tags identify which memory addresses the data array holds, so rearranging them changes the cache’s layout and wiring without requiring less data capacity. [2] The LP E-cores share one L2. This pools capacity and avoids duplicating all the cache machinery, but the four cores contend for its banks and bandwidth. Their separate cluster also keeps light work away from the performance cluster and its L3, allowing that larger domain to sleep. [1], [2] Cache area includes more than the storage cells. Tags identify each line, decoders select rows, sense amplifiers read the small bitline signal, and wires connect to the banks. Splitting an array into smaller sections shortens wordlines and bitlines, improving access speed, but duplicates peripheral circuits. Panther Lake’s smaller cache regions therefore reflect the complete memory implementation, including how much of each region is devoted to storage. [34] Unlike Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake, Panther Lake has no separate SoC tile. The NPU, LP E-cores, memory controllers, PHYs, media and display engines now share the compute tile. This removes an active die and keeps CPU memory traffic on one die. The cost is moving PHY and I/O-related circuitry onto 18A: drivers, receivers and analog circuits must still meet external voltage, loading and signal-integrity requirements, so their area does not shrink like dense digital logic. [1], [2] The biggest shrink comes from the NPU, which occupies 36.9% less area. NPU 5 consolidates the same total INT8 MAC count into half as many neural compute engines. Each of the three NCEs has a larger MAC array to make the complete NCE envelope 22.6% larger than an NPU 4 engine. Consolidation also halves the number of scratchpads and SHAVE DSPs, from 12 to 6. The MAC array handles matrix multiplication and convolution, while SHAVE executes vector and custom operations that fit the array poorly. [1], [2], [35] The paired floorplans identify each NCE envelope and its scratchpad, MAC, and SHAVE regions. Each measured MAC polygon is counted once per NCE in the area accounting below. The scratchpads store weights, activations, and intermediate results near the MAC arrays, allowing repeated use without fetching them again from DRAM. Halving their number delivers the largest measured area saving but leaves less local storage for the same total MAC count. Layers that no longer fit locally require smaller working tiles or more transfers of intermediate data. The benefit depends on keeping the enlarged arrays busy while managing that tighter storage budget. [36] NPU 5 also adds native FP8. Using half the operand width of FP16 reduces storage and transfer demand, helping workloads fit the smaller local memory budget. Lower precision and format-dependent range make scaling and model validation part of deployment. Hardware activation functions further reduce work that would otherwise occupy the programmable DSPs. [1], [2] Microsoft requires an NPU to deliver at least 40 TOPS for Copilot+ PCs. Both Lunar Lake and Panther Lake meet this threshold, but Panther Lake uses significantly less silicon. GPU tiles Panther Lake is Intel’s first product with Xe3, its latest GPU architecture. It offers two different GPU tiles: a smaller GT1 tile with 4 Xe3 cores on Intel 3 and a larger GT2 tile with 12 Xe3 cores on TSMC N3E. Panther Lake allows us to compare the same GPU architecture across both Intel 3 and TSMC N3E. Wildcat Lake adds a third Xe3 implementation on Intel 18A. A future newsletter will detail Xe3 and its implementation differences across all three process nodes. GT2 scales Xe3 to a different physical layout, with render slices arranged vertically instead of GT1’s horizontal arrangement. Slice placement sets the distances to shared cache banks and the D2D interface. Those wires consume area and add delay, so scaling the number of Xe cores also requires a new balance of cache placement, routing and timing. [1] What’s immediately obvious is that the GT2 tile on TSMC N3E has much smaller Xe cores than GT1. These block areas include logic, caches, and routing. An Xe core on the GT1 tile is ~69% larger than one on Lunar Lake, and ~55% larger than one on GT2. Intel 3 therefore uses substantially more area per Xe core. The block-area gap exceeds the measured logic and SRAM density gaps, bringing routing, timing targets, cell mix, and floorplan allocation into the comparison. The measured vector/matrix engine region is almost unchanged between Lunar Lake and Panther Lake’s GT2 tile. Xe3 retains eight 512-bit vector engines and eight 2048-bit XMX engines per core. Its gains also come from feeding those engines more effectively: more resident threads hide stalls, and variable register allocation lets shaders trade registers per thread against the number of threads kept active. [1] The shared L1/SLM capacity increased by 33% from 192 KiB to 256 KiB, while its area increased only 5%, raising effective density by 27%. L1 retains reused cache lines, while software-managed SLM lets a thread group share data locally. Both reduce traffic to more distant memory. Allocating more SLM per group can also limit how many groups reside on a core at once. [1], [37] The GT1 tile carries 4 MiB of L2 against 16 MiB on the GT2 tile. GT1 divides its L2 cache into four 1 MiB banks, while GT2 uses eight 2 MiB banks. Each bank contains 128 macros, but each N3E macro stores 16 KiB, twice the Intel 3 macro’s 8 KiB capacity. The N3E macro is only 54% larger while holding twice as many bits, giving it 30% higher density: ~23.7 Mbit/mm² versus 18.3 Mbit/mm². Including bank-level circuitry, the gap widens to ~16.9 Mbit/mm² on GT2 versus ~10.4 Mbit/mm² on GT1. GT2 gains density with its macros storing more bits per unit area, and those macros occupy more of each cache bank. Larger macros spread decoder and sense-amplifier overhead across more storage, while a more compact bank layout reduces the share spent on control and routing. The compromise is longer wordlines and bitlines that carry more capacitance. [34] I/O tile Panther Lake uses two I/O tile variants, both fabricated on TSMC N6. The smaller one provides 4 PCIe 5.0 and 8 PCIe 4.0 lanes and serves lower-tier systems as well as those without a discrete GPU, while the larger one adds 8 PCIe 5.0 lanes, bringing the total to 20 lanes, for discrete-GPU connectivity. Panther Lake SKUs with the larger 10- or 12-Xe GPUs use the smaller I/O tile. [38] The smaller I/O tile adds a PCIe 4.0 block and a Thunderbolt block to Lunar Lake’s I/O layout, providing four additional PCIe 4.0 lanes and another Thunderbolt 4 port. Its repeated N6 blocks retain nearly identical areas and layouts. Reusing these proven PHYs and controllers avoids porting and requalifying external interfaces on 18A, where faster digital logic offers less benefit to circuits constrained by the off-chip link. [38] SemiAnalysis’s teardown lab (STEEL) dives deep into the world’s advanced datacenter and AI hardware. To learn more about our pipeline or to commission a teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. We’re hiring technical experts from system to transistor and everywhere in between. Check out our Careers page. Panther Lake offers scalability and modularity through its disaggregated packaging that partition compute, GPU, and I/O silicon into separate tiles allowing for a suite of tile configurations. This partitioning makes the package part of Intel’s node economics as it determines how much leading-edge wafer area each product consumes, which functions can remain on other processes, and how much configuration freedom Intel can offer from a shared set of tiles. Furthermore, fabricating the compute and GPU tiles separately confines the new 18A process to the compute tile and allows graphics and I/O to use other, more established, and more cost-effective processes. For Panther Lake, the GPU and I/O tiles are assembled alongside the compute tile on a passive silicon base using Foveros-S. Intel’s current technology brief lists a nominal 36 µm pitch for Foveros-S. Through-silicon vias (TSVs) in the base connect the fine wiring above to the larger package connections below. The functional tiles sit side by side on that passive base in a 2.5D configuration. [39] Our cross-section through the compute and GPU tiles shows the package’s wiring hierarchy. Microbumps connect each active tile to the passive silicon base; its fine redistribution layer (RDL) carries the short, dense tile-to-tile links. TSVs carry connections through the base to the package substrate, which fans them out to the much coarser motherboard solder joints. The base supplies interconnect, while computation remains in the active tiles above it. [39] At the compute-tile edge, the higher-magnification inset shows a local microbump spacing of approximately 25.24 µm and a feature width of 12.33 µm. These local spacings are finer than Intel’s nominal Foveros-S value. The X-ray fields further confirm tighter neighboring bumps, consistent across every die-to-die area found on each tile. Additional X-ray analysis is offered after the paywall. Putting the memory controller beside the CPU removes the D2D transfer that CPU memory requests required in Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake. This avoids the extra transmitter, receiver, and link traversal, saving interface energy and latency. Panther Lake’s separate GPU still crosses a D2D link to reach DRAM, so its larger local caches also help contain package traffic. [1], [40] Smaller dies are less likely to contain a random fatal defect, and screening them before assembly prevents one bad tile from consuming a complete package of good silicon. Reuse also spreads design and qualification work across more products. Against those gains, Intel pays for the passive base, D2D circuits, extra bonding and test steps, and losses during assembly. Cost per working product across the portfolio captures the combined effect of wafer yield, reuse, test, and assembly. [29] Wildcat Lake packaging Intel launched Core Series 3, formerly Wildcat Lake, on 16 April 2026 for value mobile and edge systems. Wildcat Lake keeps 18A but removes the passive base and combines more functions on one die to simplify the package. The two products therefore reveal two distinct ways to commercialize the same leading-edge process. [41] Wildcat Lake’s 18A die combines up to two Cougar Cove P-cores, four Darkmont LP E-cores, two Xe3 cores and a smaller NPU. A separate platform-controller die supplies I/O, connected through UCIe, Intel’s first processor implementation of the standard. Consolidating graphics remove a tile boundary and the passive base, reducing assembly complexity for a modest-bandwidth value product. It also ties CPU and graphics scaling to the same die, giving up Panther Lake’s ability to swap in a much larger GPU. [42], [43] In July 2021, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger set out an ambitious process roadmap aimed at regaining performance leadership by 2025, later described as five nodes in four years. Five years and one CEO later, Intel’s comeback story is not as unambiguously positive as Pat may have hoped. [44], [45] Intel once set the pace for process technology, bringing high-k metal gate technology and FinFETs into volume production years ahead of the rest of the industry. Its 22 nm FinFET process reached consumers with Ivy Bridge in 2012. [46] Intel’s integrated device manufacturing (IDM) model allowed its architects and process engineers to co-optimize products and processes. Starting with Sandy Bridge, Intel dominated x86, while AMD struggled with Bulldozer. That lead faltered at 14 nm and broke at 10 nm. Intel targeted a massive 2.7× density increase, but the node arrived years late and required several revisions before it could support Intel’s full lineup. This delay forced Intel to stretch 14 nm across six generations, while TSMC moved ahead in process technology and AMD recovered in x86. By 2019, Intel was still shipping 14 nm across most of its product stack, with its 10 nm client ramp focused on Ice Lake mobile processors. Meanwhile, TSMC was shipping N7 and N7+, and AMD’s Zen 2 compute chiplets used N7 to raise core counts and improve efficiency. Intel’s process failures were central to its decline, but unsound business decisions furthered their downward slide. Product delays compounded product mistakes, pushing client, server, and FPGA roadmaps off schedule. Several attempts to enter AI (Nervana and Gaudi) and networking (Tofino) also failed to establish lasting businesses. Intel’s recovery has focused on consumer CPUs and advanced packaging. Tiger Lake, Alder Lake, Lunar Lake and now Panther Lake have restored Intel’s consumer roadmap. On the process side, Intel 4 shipped with Meteor Lake, Intel 3 with Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest, and Intel 18A with Panther Lake. Intel has also made advanced packaging part of its foundry offering. However, Intel is still playing catch-up in servers. Several Xeon generations arrived years late and trailed contemporary AMD and Arm server CPUs in performance, efficiency, and core count. The process roadmap is back, but Intel does not hold the same process-technology leadership position it held prior to 10 nm. The introduction of gate-all-around nanosheets and backside power delivery are two of the biggest changes to transistor integration in a decade. Intel took on both changes at once: 18A paired its first RibbonFET with PowerVia in Panther Lake. Panther Lake is a substantial manufacturing milestone. Our cross-sections show how RibbonFET and PowerVia reshape local contacts and wiring, while the floorplans show where architectural consolidation and process choices save area. A sustained competitive lead depends on product performance, cost, yield, and the next implementation. The SemiAnalysis STEEL teardown lab breaks down advanced datacenter and AI hardware. To learn more about our pipeline or to commission a teardown, contact sales@semianalysis.com. WE’RE HIRING: Architecture, floorplan, packaging, manufacturing, and labs experts. Opportunities from system to transistor and everywhere in between. Check out our Careers page.. [1] Intel, “Intel Tech Tour 2025 Panther Lake recap,” Doc. 866361, 2025. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/866361/ITT_2025_Panther_Lake_Recap1.pdf [2] Intel, “Core Ultra processors Series 3 datasheet, volume 1,” Doc. 872188-001, Jan. 2026. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/872188/872188-001.pdf [3] N. Horiguchi and E. Beyne, “Backside power delivery: How to power chips from the backside,” imec Reading Room, Nov. 25, 2022. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.imec-int.com/en/articles/how-power-chips-backside [4] W. Hafez et al., “Intel PowerVia technology: Backside power delivery for high density and high-performance computing,” in Proc. IEEE Symp. VLSI Technol. Circuits, Kyoto, Japan, Jun. 2023, pp. 1–2, doi: 10.23919/vlsitechnologyandcir57934.2023.10185208. [5] K. Fischer et al., “Intel 18A platform technology featuring RibbonFET (GAA) and PowerVia for advanced high-performance computing,” in Proc. Symp. VLSI Technol. Circuits, Kyoto, Japan, Jun. 2025, pp. 1–3, doi: 10.23919/vlsitechnologyandcir65189.2025.11075006. [6] K.-F. Cheng, C.-L. Teng, H.-Y. Huang, and H.-C. Chen, “Metal oxide composite as etch stop layer,” U.S. Patent 12 176 247 B2, Dec. 24, 2024. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US12176247B2/en [7] S. W. King, “Dielectric barrier, etch stop, and metal capping materials for state of the art and beyond metal interconnects,” ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol., vol. 4, no. 1, pp. N3029–N3047, 2015, doi: 10.1149/2.0051501jss. [8] A. V. Mule’, D. J. Towner, D. Seghete, C. R. Ryder, and A. A. Gonzalez, “Multi-layer etch stop layers for advanced integrated circuit structure fabrication,” U.S. Patent Appl. 20220102343 A1, Mar. 31, 2022. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20220102343A1/en [9] C.-C. Wang and J. H. Wang, “Interconnect structure with dielectric cap layer and etch stop layer stack,” U.S. Patent Appl. 20230253247 A1, Aug. 10, 2023. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230253247A1/en [10] Y. J. Wu, K.-F. Cheng, C.-C. Lee, H.-K. Chang, and H.-Y. Huang, “Etch stop layer for interconnect structures,” U.S. Patent Appl. 20240332070 A1, Oct. 3, 2024. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20240332070A1/en [11] M. G. Rainville, N. Shankar, K. S. Reddy, and D. M. Hausmann, “Deposition of aluminum oxide etch stop layers,” U.S. Patent Appl. 20180197770 A1, Jul. 12, 2018. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.justia.com/patent/20180197770 [12] J. S. Leib et al., “Conductive lines having molybdenum liner and tungsten fill for advanced integrated circuit structure fabrication,” U.S. Patent Appl. 20240429126 A1, Dec. 26, 2024. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.justia.com/patent/20240429126 [13] M. Naik, “Cobalt enables power and performance scaling at single-digit logic nodes,” Applied Materials, Dec. 17, 2018. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.appliedmaterials.com/us/en/blog/blog-posts/cobalt-enables-power-and-performance-scaling-at-single-digit-logic-nodes.html [14] Lam Research, “Breaking through AI’s invisible barrier with molybdenum,” Lam Research Newsroom, May 6, 2025. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://newsroom.lamresearch.com/molybdenum-metallization-ai-revolution [15] P. Yashar, G. Malyavanatham, and H. Vijwani, “Integrated circuit interconnect structures with niobium barrier materials,” U.S. Patent Appl. 20240112951 A1, Apr. 4, 2024. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20240112951A1/en [16] Applied Materials, “Applied Materials unveils chip wiring innovations for more energy-efficient computing,” Applied Materials Investor Relations, Jul. 8, 2024. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://ir.appliedmaterials.com/news-releases/news-release-details/applied-materials-unveils-chip-wiring-innovations-more-energy [17] Samsung, “Samsung showcases AI-era vision and latest foundry technologies at SFF 2024,” Samsung Semiconductor, Jun. 13, 2024. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://semiconductor.samsung.com/news-events/news/samsung-showcases-ai-era-vision-and-latest-foundry-technologies-at-sff-2024/ [18] C. W. Yeung et al., “Channel geometry impact and narrow sheet effect of stacked nanosheet,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), Dec. 2018, pp. 28.6.1–28.6.4, doi: 10.1109/iedm.2018.8614608. [19] S. Mochizuki et al., “Evaluation of (110) versus (001) channel orientation for improved nFET/pFET device performance trade-off in gate-all-around nanosheet technology,” in Proc. Int. Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), Dec. 2023, pp. 1–4, doi: 10.1109/iedm45741.2023.10413854. [20] D. G. Ouellette et al., “Fabrication of gate-all-around integrated circuit structures having molybdenum nitride metal gates and gate dielectrics with a dipole layer,” U.S. Patent 12 051 698 B2, Jul. 30, 2024. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US12051698B2/en [21] imec, “Advancing the CFET-based device roadmap with novel integration modules and standard-cell architectures,” imec, 2026. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.imec-int.com/en/articles/advancing-cfet-based-device-roadmap-novel-integration-modules-and-standard-cell [22] A. Reznicek, X. Miao, C. Lee, and J. Zhang, “Wrap around contact for nanosheet source drain epitaxy,” U.S. Patent 11 302 813 B2, Apr. 12, 2022. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US11302813B2/en [23] J. A. Kittl, J. G. Hong, D. R. Palle, and M. S. Rodder, “Methods for varied strain on nano-scale field effect transistor devices,” U.S. Patent 9 978 833 B2, May 22, 2018. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9978833B2/en [24] S. Gandikota et al., “Method of reducing metal gate resistance for next generation NMOS device application,” Int. Patent Appl. WO 2024/137272 A1, Jun. 27, 2024. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2024137272A1/en [25] J. Zhang et al., “Full bottom dielectric isolation to enable stacked nanosheet transistor for low power and high performance applications,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), Dec. 2019, pp. 11.6.1–11.6.4, doi: 10.1109/iedm19573.2019.8993490. [26] C. Yoo, J. Chang, Y. Seon, H. Kim, and J. Jeon, “Analysis of self-heating effects in multi-nanosheet FET considering bottom isolation and package options,” IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 1524–1531, Mar. 2022, doi: 10.1109/ted.2022.3141327. [27] S. S. Pradhan, D. B. Bergstrom, J.-S. Chun, and J. Chiu, “Tungsten gates for non-planar transistors,” European Patent Appl. EP 3 506 367 A1, Jul. 3, 2019. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/EP3506367A1/en [28] L. Schloss and X. Ba, “Tungsten films having low fluorine content,” U.S. Patent 9 754 824 B2, Sep. 5, 2017. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9754824B2/en [29] Intel Foundry, “Accelerating AI and HPC with advanced process and packaging technologies,” Doc. 367370-001US, Jun. 2026. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/central-libraries/us/en/documents/2025-11/intel-foundry-hpc-ai-brief.pdf [30] M. Lofrano, X. Chang, H. Oprins, and Z. Tokei, “Mitigating the thermal bottleneck in advanced interconnects,” imec, Sep. 28, 2023. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.imec-int.com/en/articles/mitigating-thermal-bottleneck-advanced-interconnects [31] S. Bair, “Intel at ISSCC 2025: Navid Shahriari invited talk, eight papers, forums, panelist & product details,” Intel Community, Feb. 19, 2025. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://community.intel.com/t5/Blogs/Tech-Innovation/Edge-5G/Intel-at-ISSCC-2025-Navid-Shahriari-Invited-Talk-Eight-Papers/post/1667592 [32] D. Chandra, E. Potladhurthi, D. R. S. Reddy, and K. S. Rengarajan, “Tunable negative bitline write assist and boost attenuation circuit,” U.S. Patent Appl. 20160203857 A1, Jul. 14, 2016. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20160203857A1/en [33] Synopsys, “Advantages of firmware-based training in high-speed DDR IP,” Synopsys IP Technical Bulletin. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.synopsys.com/articles/firmware-based-training-ddr-ip.html [34] N. Muralimanohar, R. Balasubramonian, and N. P. Jouppi, “CACTI 6.0: A tool to understand large caches,” Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, 2009. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://users.cs.utah.edu/~rajeev/cacti6/cacti6-tr.pdf [35] Intel, “Intel Tech Tour 2024 Lunar Lake AI hardware accelerators,” Doc. 824436, 2024. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/824436/2024_Intel_Tech%20Tour%20TW_Lunar%20Lake%20AI%20Hardware%20Accelerators.pdf [36] Y.-H. Chen, J. Emer, and V. Sze, “Eyeriss: A spatial architecture for energy-efficient dataflow for convolutional neural networks,” in Proc. 43rd ACM/IEEE Annu. Int. Symp. Comput. Archit. (ISCA), Jun. 2016, pp. 367–379, doi: 10.1109/isca.2016.40. [37] Intel, “Introduction to the Xe-HPG architecture,” Doc. 758306, Nov. 4, 2022. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/technical/introduction-to-the-xe-hpg-architecture.html [38] Intel, “Core Ultra processors Series 3 for the edge,” Doc. 855291. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://cdrdv2-public.intel.com/855291/Intel%C2%AE%20Core%E2%84%A2%20Ultra%20Processors%20Series%203%20for%20Edge%20Overview_2.pdf [39] Intel Foundry, “Foveros technology brief,” Doc. 366411-001US, Feb. 2026. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/central-libraries/us/en/documents/2025-07/foveros-25d-product-brief.pdf [40] D. Das Sharma, “UCIe: Building an open chiplet ecosystem,” UCIe Consortium, 2022. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.uciexpress.org/_files/ugd/0c1418_c5970a68ab214ffc97fab16d11581449.pdf [41] Intel, “Intel launches Intel Core Series 3 processors,” Intel Newsroom, Apr. 16, 2026. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/news/client-computing/intel-launches-intel-core-series-3-processors-changing-the-game-for-everyday-computing.html [42] Intel, “Core Series 3 launch press deck,” Apr. 2026. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://download.intel.com/newsroom/2026/Intel-Core-Series-3/Intel-Core-Series-3-Launch-Press-Deck.pdf [43] Intel, “Intel outlines architectures for agentic AI at Hot Chips 2026,” Intel Newsroom, Aug. 24, 2026. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/news/client-computing/intel-outlines-architectures-for-agentic-ai-at-hot-chips-2026.html [44] Intel, “Intel accelerates process and packaging innovations,” Intel Investor Relations, Jul. 26, 2021. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.intc.com/filings-reports/all-sec-filings/content/0001193125-21-224438/d199788dex991.htm [45] Intel, “Intel reports third-quarter 2021 financial results,” Intel Investor Relations, Oct. 21, 2021. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.intc.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1505/intel-reports-third-quarter-2021-financial-results [46] Intel, “3rd generation Intel Core processors bring exciting new experiences and fun to the PC,” Intel Investor Relations, Apr. 23, 2012. Accessed: Sep. 14, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.intc.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/577/3rd-generation-intel-core-processors-bring-exciting
Viking Derby Victory: Nusa Announces Himself Against Denmark
Antonio Nusa’s creative flair and Ørjan Nyland’s crucial saves propelled a rising Norwegian side past their rivals, signaling a new era of dominance behind Erling Haaland’s brilliance.
'Paper Tiger' review: Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson enter a heart-wrenching love triangle
Writer/director James Gray delivers an unusual mafia drama.
Why some Republicans are pushing for a diesel export ban, despite industry pushback
WASHINGTON — Support for banning diesel fuel exports — an idea Gov. Jeff Landry jumped on — swelled as vulnerable Republicans weighed the plan against a backdrop of a rising
Pellegrini hoping to make first season appearance vs Como
Lorenzo Pellegrini is working to return to the spotlight with Roma. The Giallorossi midfielder is using the international break to regain top form and focus on the match against Como on October 11th a...
Mütter Museum will display bonus collection items for after-hours ‘Frankenstein’ finale
The Nov. 12 Meet & Geek will explore the science and medicine behind Mary Shelley’s novel as the museum closes out its seasonal pop-up.
Official: Real Madrid star named country’s Player of the Year
A member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Real Madrid has this week been rewarded for his consistent excellence at club and international level alike.This comes amid confirmation of Jude Bellin...
Man City and the 115 charges
It has taken more than two years, but a judgement finally appears to have been made on the 115 charges levelled against Manchester City. Here's what is means.
Scientists clone Southern Africa’s wild fruit trees as forests disappear
Plant geneticist Alice Muchugi recalls meeting a group of furious fruit sellers on the side of a dusty road not far from Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, in 2024. They told her that a group of men armed with chainsaws had felled some of the district’s most prolific fruit trees, robbing the women of a steady source […]
Dave & Buster's Entertainment Stock Short Interest Rises to 36.21%
Dave & Buster's Entertainment short interest was 36.21% of the float on September 15th, according to new data we received from Benzinga. Short interest totaled 9,831,307 shares, which was an increase of 13.2% from August 31st.It is estimated that it would take 2.49 days for short sellers to buy back their shares, with current trading volumes. Quiver Alerts Receive PLAY Data Alerts
Roma and Hull City locked in race for Kvernadze
Frosinone’s Giorgi Kvernadze is one of the most sought-after players at the moment. The Georgian winger, who has made an excellent start to the season, has reportedly attracted the attention of seve...
Unicorn Overlord director Takafumi Noma announces fantasy IP IGNISPHERE and action RPG DAWNGAZER for PS5, Switch 2, and PC
Publisher Good Smile Company and developer Monochrome Corporation have announced new fantasy intellectual property IGNISPHERE, and the first game set in that world, DAWNGAZER, led by Unicorn Overlo…
2nd Congressional District: Republican Kelley Dennison
The political newcomer, 27, said she wants more people from her generation, Gen Z, to join the political conversation.
Propelled by locals, driven by angels
Film on El Jebel daredevil Shafer plays Isis on Friday
Downtown Round Rock business rebrands as Alcove, opens expansion
The bar and restaurant formerly known as Sociedad rebranded to its original name of Alcove, owner Michelle Ly confirmed in September.
Column: Politics has become a battle for attention
Democracy requires us to disagree and still live, work and solve problems together, government communications strategist Kellen R. Reed writes in a guest column.
Column: Politics has become a battle for attention
Democracy requires us to disagree and still live, work and solve problems together, government communications strategist Kellen R. Reed writes in a guest column.
Sophomore snags Vol Court business prize
Sophomore marketing major Kendra Mueller won this semester’s Vol Court competition on Sept. 16, scoring more points than 22 others in the friendly, fast-paced event. Vol Court is a competition sponsored by the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Haslam College of Business. Executive director Breanna Hale said the purpose is to get...